A Shadow Full of Blood
by Phoenix Oblivion
Summary: Thrushclaw's leader has just died of old age... one day later, the new leader is found in her den with her throat pulled from her body, her mouth full of death berries and all nine lives ripped out of her by one single cat. Shadowclan is in a state of turmoil, and Thrushclaw suspects that the darker shadows came from the least expected...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello readers! I've been planning this story for a while, and there should be updates every two days. Review and enjoy!**

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Allegiances and Prologue

**Leader:** Oakstar, an old tabby who refuses to retire.

**Deputy:** Nightstalk, a jet-black queen who is ferocious battle, emerald eyes.

**Warriors:**

Shadowfang: A black tom that looks exactly like Nightstalk except he has amber eyes.

Boneslash: A white tom with a front claw longer than his others with blue eyes. Apprentice: Hawkpaw, light brown tom with blue eyes.

Skytail: Pretty calico she-cat with a tail as white as clouds. Apprentice: Aspenpaw, grey tabby tom.

Thrushclaw: Handsome brown tom with distinctive black stripes down his back.

Redfur: Dark ginger she-cat.

Ashstrike: Long haired grey tom.

Leafheart: Beautiful Siamese she-cat.

Flamestorm: Ginger tom with a huge white patch on his chest and grey eyes.

Honeystripe: Cream tabby she-cat.

Blazewing: Black and white tom with crimson eyes.

**Medicine Cat: **Runningsong, unique Abyssinian agouti.

**Apprentices:**

Hawkpaw: Light brown tom.

Aspenpaw: Grey tabby tom.

**Kits: None**

**Queens: None**

**Elders:**

Creekfoot: Old tom whose hair has turned completely grey.

**Prologue:**

It was only when Darkstar ate the fresh kill and had swallowed the first mouthful did she realise it was full of death berries. Her eyes widened and she choked, attempting to vomit them up, but to no avail... the poison was already doing it's job. She fell to the floor and lay down, in a sleeping position- but most certainly dead. Of course, this was only her first life, she would definitely come back to life.

Or would she? Voices echoed in her ears, and just as she was about to recover, claws ripped at her neck, and all Darkstar's lives could not reconnect her throat to her body.

Darkstar was dead, and her killer chuckled madly above her...

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**What do you think of the prologue? I know it's very short, but it's kind of meant to be short. Next chapter will be exceedingly long!**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Right, apologies, in fact, no, massive apologies. I've been so busy I just have got round to updating A Shadow Full of Blood, but now chapter two is finally here! So enjoy and please review!**

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As the first morning rays burst into the warriors den, Thrushclaw was already up and alert: he had the feeling something was going to happen today. Was it initiative? Maybe it was just the fact that Oakstar had died the night before... yes, that was it, it was just because their previous leader had died. He wondered if it was good or bad news? Darkstar had left to the Moonstone almost as soon as the news had got out that Oakstar, and had returned in what seemed like just moments later. Appointed her deputy as Shadowfang (who would have guessed) and had retired to her den, selecting a piece of fresh kill beforehand of course, she must have been shattered. It made Thrushclaw worried because you could almost see the burning ambition in her eyes as she sat on the Clanrock.

Shaking his head in annoyance, the handsome, brown tabby padded out of the den, moving out of the sun rays' glare. He didn't like the sun; no Shadowclan cat liked the sun. Not in a time of such hardship, there were absolutely no kits in the nursery and their only apprentices- Hawkpaw and Aspenpaw- had almost finished their training. Some cat in Shadowclan had to find a mate, but everyone knew that no cat was in love with anyone. Well, technically, this was _not_ entirely true, Skytail was in love with him. Only problem was that he didn't love her, no matter how close they were, she had only been a friend to him ever since when they were kits. Thrushclaw unsheathed his claws and dug them into the ground because he had virtually lost count of the amount of times cats had hinted to him that he was expected to take Skytail as a mate. He had to admit, his friend was very pretty, she had silky and long calico fur that clung to her with a strange kind of dignity, and her long white tail was as fluffy and white as the clouds. But her mere beauty wasn't why Thrushclaw liked her as a friend. The main reason was because she liked _him_ for who he was. Other cats who had taken a liking to him couldn't see past his pelt, but not Skytail. She had been his friend because he was a friend to her- and he didn't want that to be any different.

Thrushclaw stared at the sun breaking through the dark trees of the Shadowclan camp; he didn't see the ruddy brown tail of their medicine cat padding into the leaders den. There was a gasp, a blood curdling scream, and Runningsong ran out of Darkstar's den shrieking, "DARKSTAR... SHE- SHE'S DEAD!"

At first, Thrushclaw had no idea what had just happened in front of him and he gawped at Runningsong in disbelief; then the seriousness of the situation suddenly dawned on him, and he repeated the medicine cat's message into all of the dens of Shadowclan. Cats swarmed out of their resting places, utter fear scorched on their fur. A mighty crescendo of yowls and calls echoed across the camp and Runningsong and Thrushclaw were bombarded with questions-

"Enough!" an outraged shout cracked the cats ears and they all turned to face the cat who stood on the Clanrock. It was Shadowfang- the jet-black deputy of Shadowclan. His strong posture held firm but you could almost see the worry and emotion flying in his body: Darkstar was his mate. Thrushclaw pitied the pain he would have to endure when he realised Darkstar was really dead. "What is the meaning of this Runnningsong?"

The ruddy brown coloured she-cat stood up boldly, obviously over the initial shock of finding their leader dead. Her voice wavered deeply, but it held as she spoke, "I was going into her den to check o her condition. Who knows what she could have done on the journey to the Moonstone... but then she was-" Runningsong broke out into a another fit of sobs and several cats had to move forward to comfort the medicine cat.

Now, Shadowfang's fear for his mate practically overcame him. The tom whispered quietly, "Thrushclaw and Skytail. Go into the den and check on her."

The brown tabby not obediently and stepped forward out of the mass of cats. It worried the tom how Shadowclan seemed to have suddenly lost all it's pride and technique. Their apprentice's were trained in hiding emotions but here the mighty clan were, fear overwhelming all their senses. Even more disturbed, he concentrated in falling into step with his calico friend. She smiled at him, but the sense of emotion was short lived; her face dropped back to it's current grim position.

"Do you think she's really dead?" Skytail muttered, so that no one cat apart from Thrushclaw would hear.

For a few seconds, the idea of a leader dying so early in their career puzzled him: some cat in Shadowclan must really hate her for- oh Starclan. A thought struck him like he had been clawed across the face. The killer was here, in the camp, right now. "Yes," he said, then he regained his character. "Unfortunately for Shadowclan, she _is _most certainly dead." Thrushclaw hadn't the faintest idea why he was so certain that she was dead, but it was almost like Starclan themselves were telling him to think this. Skytail nodded, and then she kept silent.

The tom felt a horrid sense of dread take control as he arrived at the lichen of her den; the look on Skytail's face told Thrushclaw she felt exactly the same way as him.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready." But Thrushclaw knew with all his heart than he didn't think he could handle what he was about to see...


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I have a few excuses of why this wasn't updated sooner... one, I just realised I had no idea where this was going, so I had to plan it out in every little detail. Two, school was getting ahead of me and I had to seriously work, you know.**

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Thrushclaw heard Skytail gasp behind him: he really couldn't blame her. He felt sick himself.

Darkstar was lying on her side and looking the other way so they couldn't see her face, but the expression must have been one of absolute shock. Her fur was completely engulfed in blood, and a long shade came from her body, so that the blood looked almost black in the dim shadow of Darkstar. It was like her shadow was full of blood.

Skytail didn't stand on ceremony. "I... I'll tell Shadowfang she's dead," and then she disappeared through the lichen. Thrushclaw stayed though, because he knew with a sickening jolt that there was more to this than met the eye. He padded around her corpse until he could look at her mouth, and found he was correct. Her mouth was full of crushed deathberries. So- so this meant that not only one cat had attempted to kill her. Two cats had succeded in giving a killing blow, but the berries would only have made her lose one life; the loss of her throat had sent her to Starclan. But which cats could possibly be so cruel as to take her existence on the first night of her leadership? No, which _cats_ had a motive to kill her? Thrushclaw turned his eyes away from the corpse, and something immediately caught his eye. The rabbit which she had eaten lay in the corner of the den, covered in her jet-black fur. It was indeed full of death-berries, but there was another thing beside it that confused him. Another tuft of her fur was caught on a bramblebush in the same corner which the rabbit was. But why had she got her fur caught on that bush? As a matter of fact, why in Starclan was there a bramble bush in a den? He shook his head, deciding that he was just being silly.

"Let me in!" a rough voice sounded from outside and Shadowfang burst in. Thrushclaw leapt away from the bramble bush knowing it must have looked suspicious. Shadowfang's eyes were on him for just a few seconds, but the heat in the gaze told him that he didn't know what to think. But then his eyes met the body of Darkstar, and a horrible cry of grief filled the air. Thrushclaw left, fully aware that he would be intruding if he stayed.

But for some discreet reason, the handsome tom got the feeling he was being watched...

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**What do you think of the murder so far? Good, bad? Please review and carry on reading.**


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